Habitat

Food

Nesting

Behavior

Searches for prey visually. Runs several steps, stops, stares, and then pecks or quickly snatches at prey.Back to top

Conservation

The Semipalmated Plover is among the few plovers whose numbers are apparently increasing, perhaps owing to its versatility in food and habitat choice, its wide-spread coastal winter distribution, or its habitat expansion in the sub-Arctic as a result of disturbance by both humans and arctic geese. A 2012 study estimates a North American breeding population of 200,000. Semipalmated Plover is not on the 2014 State of the Birds Watch List. Back to top